Amelia DovahGreene
by Durnesque
Summary: Amelia Greene just wants to survive her senior year of college with as little debt as possible. Her luck seems to turn around when a scientist approaches her and offers her a once in a lifetime oppurtunity, and a hefty chunk of change to go with it. But things turn sour when Amelia is whisked away to a foriegn land that hasn't invented shampoo yet, and no way of getting home.
1. Chapter 1

When my alarm went off at 2 PM, I wanted nothing more than to slam my fist on the clock and roll over. Even after I sat up and turned off the alarm, the ringing still blared in my head, perhaps louder than the actual clock. I stumbled to the bathroom in a daze. My limbs ached, my stomach churned, and my head was splitting with pain. For a brief moment I considered calling in to work sick, but I knew I couldn't do that. There was a word for people like me.

Hung-over. Really, really, hung-over.

I took a cold shower to try to free myself from the dark cloud that entrapped my brain, but not even that was going to do the trick today. I stepped out and wrapped a towel around my waist, heading into my small bedroom. At one point I had actually tried to turn the dilapidated apartment into a decent looking space, but eventually I gave up and just threw my crap on the floor like every other college student. I pulled on crinkled pants and a work shirt and dragged a brush through my hair, but no matter how much I brushed, straightened, or cursed, the strands acted as if they were gravitating away from my skull. I tied my hair into a sloppy bun in defeat and slouched to the kitchen for a quick bite before my glorious eight hour shift at the shit-hole movie theater I worked at. Had I not opened my fridge to find just a single bottle of Gatorade I might have just called in sick, but I desperately needed the money. I sighed, chugged the drink, and headed to work.

My name was Amelia Greene, daughter to Scumbag and She-Devil Greene. I was 21 years young living in Tempe, Arizona. I wasn't dating anyone, but I sometimes wondered if I was truly still a virgin after having been raped by my tuition for the past three years. The only reason I kept my petty managerial job at the movie theater was to pay the rent for my crappy apartment, to pay for my crappy car, and to pay off my crappy, crappy, crappy student loans. I was studying aerospace engineering, which sounds totally fancy and appealing but in all honesty I only put up with it because the Air Force had agreed to pay for a large chunk of my tuition. It wasn't without its attachments; I had to serve a four year term as an officer when I completed my degree. It sounded really cool 3 years ago when I had signed the contract, but now that it was so close I was scared. So instead of being a senior in college with my life finally starting to come together, I was scared, poor, clueless, and hung-over.

It was August, and my 5000 tuition check was due in a week. I was literally scratching my head, trying to rub two nickels together to figure out how to pay for it. Between essentials, rent, and car insurance, I was at the mercy of my crummy job, and in no way was I going to be able to afford school within the week. I drove my clunker car to work in silence, trying to decide if the churning in my stomach was due to the nerves or the alcohol. Probably both.

Work, for once, went off without a hitch. I was a projectionist, so I spent the majority of my shift holed up in the attic of the theater, staring at a computer. Occasionally I went downstairs to fill up my coffee cup with possibly the world's worst movie theater coffee, but for the most part I was isolated from everyone else. Yeah, it got lonely, but then I remembered how much I hated the teenagers that worked in stand and got over it real quick.

When I got off my shift at 11PM, I was tired and hungry, and decided to treat myself to Taco Bell for a job well done. I walked into the building and I swear the workers just glared at me the whole time for making them actually do their jobs at such an ungodly hour. There was another group of guys sitting in the corner; but they had long since finished eating and were talking in hushed voices. I sat down across the room and ate my delectable tacos in peace.

All was going fine, until I noticed one of the guys looking at me. I recognized them from school and even knew one of them. They were in the engineering department as well, but were way more advanced than me. These guys were the ones the department gave all the money to, who literally got to blow stuff up in the government clearance only labs for free. The one who was looking at me was tall and skinny, and actually quite attractive with thick rimmed glasses and short, dark hair. When he caught my eyes, he quickly looked down, turning back to his friends and talking quicker than ever. It kinda gave me the creeps because I felt like they were talking about me, but I shrugged it off. All I wanted to do was eat my tacos and mind my own business. No harm, no fowl, right?

Wrong.

After a few uncomfortable minutes of the guys taking their turns staring at me, I finally stood up and dumped my tray into the garbage. I almost made it to the door, too, but a voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Hey, Amelia!" It was Brad, the only one of the three I actually knew. He was a short guy with shaggy blonde hair that could use a decent scrubbing, but he was nice enough. Brad was the only reason I had passed Calculus 3, that for which I was truly grateful. Still, I had a feeling they were cooking up trouble, nerd style.

I turned to face the guys, rooted to the spot. "Hi," I said cautiously. They were getting up now too, throwing their bags in the garbage and coming to stand by me.

"How's school?" Brad asked honestly with a small smile. I kinda got the feeling Brad liked me in more way than one, which made me a little uncomfortable.

"It's summer," I said flatly.

Brad covered his tracks. "Right. So uh, how are things, um, financially?"

Brad knew I was flat broke, which is why he had never asked for any money when he spent hours tutoring me. My scumbag parents didn't leave a dime to my name when they kicked me out at 18, and it seemed everyone knew Amelia Green was piss-poor.

"Dude, I am not having this conversation with you."

"Okay, okay," he said quickly before I could add more venom to the statement. He looked nervous, but then again Brad always seemed nervous so I couldn't judge much based on that. "Look, I need your help."

Now I knew for sure trouble was a-brewing. Bradley Jones never needed anyone's help, let alone C-average, 120 pounds of dull Amelia Greene. My eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"No," I said. I turned away and headed to my car, wanting nothing more than to just get the heck out of there.

"Wait, Amelia!" Brad said, following right on my heels. "Let me explain."

"Okay," I said slowly, turning to face him. "Explain."

He looked stunned. He tripped over himself trying to get his tongue to work right. "Well, uh, we kind of need a, um, well…" he stumbled, his face turning cherry red.

Cute guy with glasses came to Brad's rescue. "We have an experiment we're conducting. If this works we could change life as we know it. The meaning of science would be changed, all thanks to us."

"And where do I fit into this?" I asked half-heartedly. I eyed my car, trying to figure out my chances of escape if I just sprinted to it and locked the doors.

"Well…"Brad mumbled. "We need a test subject."

"Absolutely not," I stated. Sure, these guys were the best, but that didn't mean I trusted them to come anywhere near me to do "science".

"Please, Amelia. We'll pay you. Please, please, please, please," Brad begged.

I looked them over, weighing the possibilities in my head. I so badly wanted to turn away and leave, but…

"How much?"

"Huh?"

I shuffled uncomfortably. "You said you'd pay me. How much?"

"Oh, uh-," Brad started.

"10,000 dollars," Glasses stated confidently. His friends looked both outraged and hopeful. They all had their eyes on me, waiting for my answer.

"Yes," I blurted out before I could even think about it. I had to restrain myself from clapping a hand over my mouth. Was I crazy?

No, not crazy. Just really, really, poor.

The guys were over themselves with joy. They had quickly gotten over the fact that they'd soon be out ten grand, and were swapping high fives and exclamations.

"So what do I do?" I asked with a dark sigh. I just hoped they wouldn't try to switch my arms with my legs or make my hair fall out. I got in Brad's brand new Mercedes while they chattered away. I think they were talking to me but I was busy worrying about what deathly experiment they were going to perform on me. I tried to relax. I just had to live through it. If I lived through it, I could pay for school and even buy myself some nice things for once.

We arrived at Brad's house within a matter of minutes. I had been to Brad's house before when he was teaching me math, and it was the stuff kids dreamed of. Yeah, Brad's parents were filthy rich, but he made bank doing science for some top secret government organization as well. The house was full of cool things like pinball machines and huge TVs and pools. I sometimes wondered if I should date Brad just for use of his house.

The guys led me down to the basement, the only floor of the house I had never been to. As we hit the last step, I saw why. His basement was a huge science lab! Brad had to scan a security badge and do a retina scan and everything just to get in. We followed him through a maze of tables holding chemistry stations and super advanced computers and other science junk I had never seen before. On the right were bookshelves with literally thousands of books on the wall. It was incredible. We went all the way to the back of the lab, and I was a little confused when I got there. Up until that point, the science lab had been, well, science-y. This spot where we went was just like a normal teenage boy's room. There was a sloppily made bed and a computer with a video game up, and a mini fridge full of Mountain Dew in the corner. The only thing that looked remotely concerning was a random plastic Adirondack chair in the middle of the room.

"You sit here," Brad said, laying a blanket over the chair. I assumed he just wanted to make it more comfortable, so I wasn't going to argue. I sat down. Glasses offered me a drink. Brad sat down at his computer and continued playing the video game. I recognized it; Skyrim. Brad was fighting a dragon with a dagger and a shield. It looked really….lame.

"So fellas, what exactly are we doing?"

As soon as I said that, the third guy showed up, his arms full with wires and a funny looking helmet thing.

"Okay," Brad said, minimizing his game. He was quickly typing into some sort of program which I had never seen before. "Erik is going to hook you up and we're going to take a test drive online."

Erik made haste sticking little suction cups all over my body. There must have been a hundred little wires connected to me by the time he was done, all attached to this little box that kinda looked like a car battery. Glasses hooked the battery up to Brad's computer, and Brad resumed typing and clicking and doing general nerd stuff.

"What exactly is happening?" I asked, suddenly nervous. Erik had fitted the silly looking helmet onto my head, fastening it with a Velcro chinstrap.

"Don't worry, it's the same stuff we told you in the car," Brad assured me. Too bad I hadn't been paying attention in the car.

They all circled around the computer now. Whatever program Brad had been loading was complete, and was now prompting them to start the experiment.

"Wait," I said shakily. "Should I sign some kind of waiver or something? You know…if I die?"

"Oh, um," Brad said, tearing his desk apart for a piece of paper. He scribbled furiously, and a few seconds later, handed me the note.

'If Amelia dies, it is not our fault.'

"Wow, that's the best you can do?" I asked irritably. I just hoped this experiment would be over in time to catch Robot Chicken at 2AM.

"Are you ready or what?" Glasses asked, turning back to the computer.

"Sure…" I mumbled.

One nerdy "FOR SCIENCE!" speech later, the lights had been cut and the only source came from the tubes attached to my body and Brad's computer screen.

"You ready boys?" Brad asked gruffly. The guys nodded, and Brad clicked the "RUN PROGRAM" button.

Nothing happened. I watched the guys exchange looks and then focus their attention on me.

I shut my eyes in defeat. I really needed the money.

_SPLASH!_

With a thud, I hit water. I sank a few feet, being pulled gently by the current. My mind was blank as I floated in the water, trying to remember what had happened. My name was Amelia Greene. That I could remember. Had I been drinking? Did someone just dump me in the pool? Surely I was still at Brad's house, going for a swim in his Olympic sized pool.

When I opened my eyes, I was shocked to see that I was not, in fact, in Brad's pool. The water was murky and green, and seaweed waved gently in the water. No, I was in a river.

WHAT. THE. HELL.

I kicked off the bottom in panic, rocketing to the surface. Something caught my arm, something SHARP. I thrashed in the water, desperate to detach the creature and still somehow make it to the surface. What I ended up doing was sinking further into the depths, whatever the hell kind of critter still holding onto my arm with the jaws of life. All my oxygen was out, and all I could do was sink farther and farther into the darkness…

With one swift movement, big hands gripped my shoulders, yanking me to the surface. A man had jumped into the water to save me! He ripped the creature off my arm, and with one big pull, dragged me onto the rocky shore. Another set of hands grabbed me and pulled me away from the water while I coughed and sputtered and tried not to puke river water all over my saviors.

"Can you hear me?" a gruff man's voice cut through my head, bringing me to reality. I flopped around on the grass like a fish out of water, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Where did those turds take me? Not a few seconds ago I was sitting at Brad's house, and now I was drowning in a river in broad daylight?

I finally stopped thrashing, breathing in a few calming breaths to keep myself from panicking. Amelia Greene. Arizona. Air Force.

I looked around. I was lying in a patch of lush green grass that led right up to a gentle river. Big, leafy trees surrounded the river bank, full of chirping birds and other critters scurrying about.

No. I definitely wasn't in Arizona anymore.

"Lass, can you hear me?"

My attention snapped to a big, muscular, and well, grungy, man. He had the biggest dang muscles I had ever seen, his wet shirt clinging to his broad chest. He had long hair that desperately needed a conditioning and a scruffy, unkempt beard, but still he was…well he wasn't ugly I guess. But he had saved my life, and that's all that mattered to me now.

There was a girl a few steps back, eyeing us with distaste. She was pretty, but somehow dark and mysterious with a forcible scowl that made me want to turn around and jump back in the river. I rolled away from them, pushing myself onto my hands and knees, shaking in fear. I felt the man's gigantic hand clutch my shoulder, easing me to the ground.

"Take it easy there, lass," he mumbled in a soothing tone. The woman just shifted impatiently, her arms crossed.

"Where am I?" I asked, my voice full of fear.

The man looked around. "A few paces short of Riften I'd guess."

I was a senior in college. I had never heard of any 'Riften' in my life.

"Who are you?"

The man extended a hand. "Name's Brynjolf. What brings you to Skyrim?"

Uh oh.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"What brings you to Skyrim?"

I let myself fall on the soft earth, rolling onto my back. It was like time had stopped. Huge, lush trees rustled in the light breeze, kicking yellowing leaves across the sky. All at once I felt incredibly insignificant, looking up at the vast, clear pallet of fluffy clouds and emerging moon. I took in a deep breath, and the clean air was sweet relief to my tortured city lungs. It was like some kind of dream land where nature had been completely untouched by human evolution. I reached one hand out to stroke the plush grass, the soft blades tickling my fingers. It was as real as could be.

"Just leave her, Bryn. She probably hit her head on the way down," a sharp voice cut through my fantasy. It was the pretty blonde standing behind the gruff man, her muscled arms taught against her chest. She wore a dark scowl that looked as if it had been there a long time. In an instant my feelings of wonder were replaced with dread, fear, and pain. I looked to my arm in panic, which was freely pumping out blood from what looked to be a large and oddly shaped bite mark. Searing pain shot through my arm and shoulder, and before I could bite it back, a scared cry escaped me.

"Slaughterfish got you good, it did," the gruff man stated, tentatively inching closer to me. He almost looked afraid that I was going to have a psychotic break and attack him or something, and I didn't blame him. After a few cautious seconds he reached out, tearing off my destroyed shirt sleeve in one swift jerk to look at the cuts. I was still wearing my jeans and t-shirt from last night, or whenever I was still in the realm of reality, and I looked completely out of place next to these two. They were both wearing simple pants and ragged, animal skin boots. The dude was wearing what looked to be a normal long sleeve t-shirt, but I saw a pile of what I guessed was a type of armor laying not too far from us where he had stripped down and jumped in the river. If his looked anything like the woman's, it kinda reminded me of a straightjacket. Thankfully the man either didn't notice or didn't care that my blue jeans and yellow shirt stuck out like a sore thumb against their neutral, rugged garb.

"You'll be fine," the man finally announced, releasing my arm. I pushed myself off the ground, taking a few shaky steps to regain my balance. The man stood close, ready to catch me if I tumbled over or collapsed to the ground.

"You're lucky to be alive, lass," the guy said as he pulled on his armor over his wet shirt. "You damn near fell out of the sky." He took a second to shake his long mane of hair, splattering my face with flecks of cold river water. I was rooted to the spot, trying to take everything in. It all made sense to me now; the trees, the river, the sky. Everything was so perfect because it wasn't real.

I was in the video game Skyrim.

I was frozen in fear, wonder, and pain all in one. How could this be possible? This went beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of. The grass was as real as anything I had ever felt before. Were the guys watching me right now? Did they even have any idea that their experiment had worked? And my mind wandered dark places as well. What if I was trapped here? I had only seen the game be played a few times, and it didn't look like any place I'd ever want to live. There was no way I'd be able to survive for very long. No sense lying to myself. I was scared as hell. The breeze that was blowing by was chilly, and the river water had been far from warm. A shiver rocked through my body as the two strangers stared at me. I guessed they were waiting on me to say something, but I couldn't seem to make my vocal cords function.

"Come on, Bryn," the woman said warily.

"Keep your pants on, Vex," the man said patiently, not breaking my gaze. "Where are you headed?" he asked me, his voice sweet and soothing. Even with his efforts, the only thing my mind seemed capable of was fear. Irrational, controlling, dark fear.

So naturally, the only logical thing for me to do was turn and run.

In hindsight, I realize I'd probably be better off had I stayed. The guy had seemed honestly concerned that I had just fallen out of the sky and I probably could have at least gotten safe place to sleep out of the whole mess. But no, here I was, sprinting into the woods like a bat outta hell with no food, no water, and no clue. After what seemed like miles, I finally slowed down, collapsing onto a nearby log. I guess in my haste I had strayed off the path, because no matter what direction I looked I was surrounded with thick trees and rocks. I buried my face in my hands and just sat there, wallowing in my own despair.

"Brad!" I called helplessly. "Get me out of here!" I waited for a magical spirit to pull me off my seat and suck me back into my own world, but a few minutes in tense silence passed and I remained rooted to spot.

"Brad!" I called a little louder. "I don't want to do this anymore!" Nothing happened. A gust of wind whipped my hair around, and I looked to the ground in sadness. There was an inkling of hope that any minute I'd be pulled back home, but it was shrouded by dark thoughts of fear and confusion.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" a voice called. For a second I perked up, thinking it was Brad coming to my rescue. "Somebody please, help me!" the voice shouted again, and my heart sank. The voice was too deep to be Brad's. I stood up anyway, searching for the voice. A few seconds of silence passed while I made my way through the woods, searching for the man.

"I'm here," I shouted to the sky. "Where are you?"

"Up…up the hill," the voice called wearily, exhaustion seeping from every note. I turned and ran up the hill, which turned out to be more of a mountain. I pumped my legs, branches and brush slapping my body as I blazed through the thick shrubbery. I blasted through one final patch of foliage and reached a clearing, but not a second later I was being hurled through the air, landing painfully on my back against thick, frozen dirt. I looked around to see what I had tripped on, and found a young man lying near the edge of the clearing, holding his side. I had tripped over the guy I was trying to help! We both rolled on the ground in agony, him clutching his side and me clutching my head.

"Thank the Divines you're here," the man said softly, relief in his deep voice. "I thought I was going to die for a moment."

I stood up, trying to catch my breath from having the wind knocked out of me. I staggered over to the man, who looked worse for wear. His blue armor or whatever it was looked like spaghetti against his body, blood and dirt ground into his light skin. It almost looked like he had been through a meat grinder.

"What happened?" I asked, holding back disgust. Blood was everywhere, coating his hands and clothes.

"I was in Helgen…about to be exec…exec…executed," he blurted out, breathing heavily. He tried to sit up, but I held him down. He didn't fight it. "And then out of nowhere…a dragon! I thought they were just stories, but I saw one! And it got me!" He shouted, pointed to his chest, where I saw a deep gash oozing fresh blood. "But I ran away! Everyone else…they didn't make it. The dragon got them, and it's heading this way! I have to warn everyone!" he shouted at me, struggling to sit up. My mind wheeled. Dragons?

"Okay, okay," I said, helping him to his feet. "Where do we need to go? Can you walk?"

"Yeah, I can walk," he groaned, leaning heavily on my shoulder as he stood. "It's just a short way down the path; there we can talk to my sister in Riverwood."

I grabbed his heavy arm and wrapped it securely around my shoulder, thankful that I had gone to all those Air Force training sessions. We stumbled down the path slowly, the man doing all he could not to crush me.

"I can't thank you enough," the man said into my shoulder, followed by a grunt of pain. "Name's Ralof."

"Amelia," I said, hoisting the man farther up onto my shoulder as he helplessly dragged me down.

"What were you doing way out in the forest?"

"Picking berries," I lied.

"But I heard shouting," he said.

"Wasn't me."

He totally didn't believe me, and I could tell. But we trudged on, or more like I trudged on, since I was doing most of the legwork. He guided me through the little village and across a bridge to what appeared to be a mill. A woman who was working at a small table on the far end of the mill did a double take as we made our way over to her, and came running as soon as she recognized her brother. She wordlessly wrapped Ralof's other arm around her shoulder and led us to a small house not too far from the mill. We sat him down in a crude wooden chair, where he recounted his adventure for the sake of his sister, whose name was Gerdur. Gerdur was listening to Ralof, relaying appropriate reaction to his tale, but refused to take her eyes off me for the duration of his speech. I tried my best to shrink into the shadows, but there was no escaping this woman. When Ralof finished, she stood up, her arms crossed and eyes hard.

"I owe you a lot, for helping my brother," she said after a tense moment. "But if what Ralof says is true, then Riverwood is in trouble."

"I'm sorry, I don't-," I started, but Gerdur sharply cut me off.

"Please," she said a little more forcefully than I would have liked. I'm guessing she sensed my alarm, because when she spoke again her voice was soft and, well, desperate. "You're our only hope."

I really wanted to say no deal. This wasn't my problem. What if she wanted me to go fight the dragon? I couldn't fight a dragon! I could hardly fight off a mosquito on a good day. But she looked so helpless. If what Ralof said was true, then a dragon had just destroyed a whole town and a whole lot of people. I'd have it on my conscience forever if I didn't at least try to help these people, regardless of whether they were fictional or not. I sighed in defeat.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Riverwood needs military support. You can travel to Whiterun and speak to the Jarl. If you hurry, he should be able to send support before the dragons attack."

I nodded. Gerdur looked like she was done talking to me, but I had an important question.

"Um…where is Whiterun?"

Gerdur looked at me like she had never heard a stranger question, but Ralof spoke up before she could tell me off. "North. Just go north and you can't miss it. And Gerdur, have a little kindness. I would be dead had this woman not come to my rescue." At that statement Gerdur instantly softened, like she was just realizing that I wasn't a piece of meat. She looked at me like I was an actual human being.

"I think she should change into something more appropriate before she meets the Jarl," Ralof hinted, a smile on his chiseled face. Gerdur instantly jumped into action, pulling a brown knapsack off a shelf and throwing things into it. In an instant she fitted the pack to my shoulders, tying the straps around my arms just like a mother would do to her child before school. Her eyes were welled up as she worked, her hands shaking.

"You saved my brother," she said when she was finished, brushing a stray piece of hair out of my face. "You'll always be welcome in my home." And with that, she wrapped her arms around me and led me to the door. "Clothes and food are in the bag. Now go! Gods be with you."

"Amelia," Ralof said, just as I was pushing open the door. He tossed me a small object; a compass. "Run fast."

I stumbled out onto the street. I felt like I was in an action movie, and that I should valiantly take off running to the north with my hair blowing in the wind and my enemies at my heels. What I did was stand in the middle of the walkway and stare at the compass like a dummy. I had never had to use an actual compass before and spun in a slow circle, trying desperately to figure out which way was north. Pirates of the Caribbean had taught me that compasses should always point north, so I took a wild guess and just started jogging in that general direction. Within minutes I was huffing and puffing, because it turns out north was mostly uphill. Totally not heroic. Maybe I should get a cape or something.

After what seemed like forever, I reached the top of the hill. There was a small clearing, where I sat down to catch my breath and change my clothes. I knew I should probably keep running because the town was depending on my "expertise", but I had been running like hell all day. I was hungry, tired, and pretty much out of my damn mind and I was going to freaking sit down if I wanted to. I upturned the bag and the contents spilled all over the ground. It was pretty basic stuff; extremely basic in my standards. There was a simple white shirt with leather threads to tie the neck closed and a pair of scratchy brown pants to wear. I unwillingly pulled off my obnoxious shirt and blue jeans and stuffed them into the bag and pulled on the new clothes. They were everything that clothes shouldn't be; itchy and smelly and about three sizes too big, but I no longer looked like some wacko who just flumed to this world through another dimension. I mean, I did just flume through this world through another dimension, but who needed to know?

There were a couple of other things in the bag too. A couple of apples, a hunk of bread and some gnarly looking cheese slices were scattered across the ground, as well as a handful of gold pieces and a dagger that didn't look like it couldn't cut through the stem of a flower. I tucked the dagger into my pants anyway and scooped up the contents into the sack. A small, misty bottle with a red liquid I hadn't noticed before rolled out of reach. I retrieved it and cautiously pried the cap off and gave it a whiff.

Ugh. Cherry.

I took the tiniest sip only to find that it tasted exactly like the cough syrup I'd always despised as a kid. I put the cork back in the bottle and threw it into the sack and stood up to perilously continue my journey through the forest. I slid the rough bag over my shoulder and almost didn't notice that the bite marks from earlier were completely erased. I pulled up my sleeve, but there was no trace of any wound. Wow! Why didn't they have this stuff in my world? And come to think of it, I no longer felt tired or sore. It was like I had all the energy in the world! With a shout, I careened down the mountain with my newfound energy. I leapt over logs and boulders, trees whipping by me in a blur. I had never felt so great. The earth leveled out and I found myself pounding down another cobblestone path toward civilization. Ralof wasn't kidding; Whiterun looked like a massive fortress on the horizon with small buildings and farms surrounding the perimeter. I bounded through the fields like you see in movies, and eventually found myself running up a curvy path, across a drawbridge and FINALLY at the gates of what I really hoped was Whiterun.

"Hang on. What are you doing?"

I snapped back to reality (or whatever this was). There were two men standing outside the giant doors, one with his hand clamped on my arm. I couldn't see their faces because they were wearing silly mask things, but I'm pretty sure they were pissed.

"Um…going to Whiterun."

"No visitors at the time. Come back later," the second guard said, and I'm pretty sure I heard a trickle of amusement in his voice. I must have looked like some piece of work, sweating and dirty and super, super energetic.

"But there's a dragon!" I shouted in the first guard's face. "In Riverville!"

They looked at me blankly. I was guessing Riverville wasn't the right name.

"Okay, give me a second," I said, racking my brain for the damned name. "Okay, there was this guy who was about to get executed in Hellburg and dragons attacked and everyone died and he got away and took me to River…River…Riverwood? And his mean sister said oh no Dragons! And now I'm here and you just gotta let me in!" I pleaded. If they didn't let me in then Riverwood was surely doomed, and I'd come all this way for nothing. The guards exchanged looks, probably wondering what kind of drugs I was on.

"Fine," guard number one said curtly. "But I'm coming with you. I could use a good laugh."

He didn't let go of my arm as he guided me through the city. Every person I passed gave me a rotten look like I was some sort of criminal so eventually I just stared at the ground until we reached our destination. Lots of stairs and a gigantic door later I was thrust to my knees in front of who I guessed was the Jarl. He was slouched on his throne, twirling his beard in his fingers. He strongly reminded me of a really skinny Santa Claus.

"This peasant brings word of a dragon attack in Helgen," the first guard said mockingly.

"Helgen has been destroyed," Santa said quietly. "Please return to your post."

The guard stood, stunned for just a second before saluting and heading back out of the massive building. Santa turned back to me and said "So it's true? Dragons are headed this way?"

"Yup."

He seemed confused by my slang, but shrugged it off. "And why are you here?"

"Riverwood needs troops. It doesn't stand a chance."

"And they expect me to send my men who should be focused on the looming war because a…girl shows up asking for help?"

"Uh huh," I said flatly.

His look was hard and scrutinizing, and a few seconds passed painfully as he took me in. After much deliberation, he responded.

"Very well. Thank you for this report, however unfortunate it may be."

And with that, he was done with me. I stood up and headed out the door that I had just come through, feeling more insignificant and unfulfilled than ever. Weren't you supposed to get rewarded in these games for saving people's butts? Because I'm pretty sure I just saved like 10 whole people from a fiery death and I was just brushed off like a piece of garbage. I walked down the stone stairs slowly, any energy I once had replaced with annoyance. What was I supposed to do now? Sleep in the woods? Darkness was near, and I had no idea what I was going to do. Yeah. I was scared.

As I descended down the stairs, an annoying voice met my ears. There was a man, standing in front of a giant statue shouting out indecipherable words. His voice was like a friggen nail gun to my brain, and he only got louder as I came closer. Apparently he was the only one who cared about whatever he was yelling about because everyone walking through the central plaza just ignored him, carrying on with their business.

"Trust in me, Whiterun!" he shrieked. "Trust in the words of Heimskr! For I am the chosen of Talos! I alone have been-"

"SHUT UP!" I shouted. Everything became painfully silent, and I turned around to find everyone in the plaza stopped and staring at me. Heimskr's mouth hung open like I had just slapped him.

"Everyone was thinking it," I grumbled, hiking my bag up my shoulder. I pushed past people in the plaza who were all staring dumbfounded at me, and made my way through the great gates back into Skyrim.

Yipee.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello all, sorry for the wait! You know….college. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 3

As I walked away from Whiterun, making sure to stick my tongue out at the guards on my way out, I thought about what I was going to do. Every ounce of my energy was depleted and all I wanted to do was go to sleep and pray that this whole day had been a nightmare. I was hesitant to go back near the water in case any of those river monsters decided they weren't done with me, but my five whole minutes of Girl Scout training told me I should stay near a water source. I followed the beaten path for a ways and eventually hunkered down on the shore. I thought I'd have a hard time sleeping after all I'd been through, but my head hit the ground and I didn't wake up until morning. I hadn't even taken my pack off my back, and my clothes were starting to cause my skin to rash.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes. I could hear people on the path above, talking in hushed voices. Deciding to check it out, I army crawled up the small hill to see what they were doing, and was surprised to find a group of three or four people directly above me. They noticed me at once and a man clad in iron armor picked me up by the scruff of my ratty shirt and held me at arm's length before him.

"What do you want?" He demanded, giving me a shake. My toes scraped the ground as I frantically tried to free myself from his iron grip. I gave the hardest kick I could muster to his abdomen, but he didn't even flinch. Instead he just laughed and dropped me like a sack of potatoes onto the ground. I tried to roll out of it and look cool, but all I managed to do was roll myself directly into the freezing river and flail around like a moron. I could hear them laughing at me as I dragged myself out of the water. I wasn't about to pick a fight, so I just laid face down on the shore, my skin coated with sand and goose bumps.

"Cunning escape," the man chortled from above, his eyes warm this time. He didn't look anywhere near as horrifying when he wasn't lifting me into the air by my shirt front. I thought that kinda of stuff only happened in the movies.

"Thanks," I grumbled, picking myself up of the ground. I tried to brush the sand off my skin but all I managed to do was smear it all over. I guessed it didn't really matter. The sand almost felt better than my clothes.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked. His buddies behind him shifted impatiently, looking nervous. What was their deal?

"Um, sleeping?" I asked, annoyed. I had been in Skyrim all of one day and I was tired of getting beat up, mocked, and laughed at. And did I mention that the clothes were itchy as hell? Because they were.

One of the guys behind him spoke up, looking honestly concerned by my answer. "Even with the…you know? Attacks?"

Of course there were attacks. I loved getting attacked.

"Just go away," I grumbled, laying back down on the grass. My only plan was to sleep until this whole nightmare was over. Or until I died. Whichever came first.

"Hey, don't be like that," big guy #1 said, crouching next to me. "What do you say about going and doing something fun?"

I wondered if "rape" was fun in Skyrim. It probably was.

"No," I said flatly.

"What, are you a coward?"

"Sure, man. Whatever." I would say anything to get him to go away.

He stood up, adjusting his clunky armor. He walked a few paces and picked up my bag off the ground, slinging it over his shoulder.

"Whoa, what are you doing?!" I demanded, sitting upright. He started walking away. "Dude, that's mine!" I shouted after him. I flung myself off the ground and started chasing him.

"Oh, so you decided to come with us after all!" the man said with a smile. The others didn't look anywhere near as excited.

"Give me my bag!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

I glared. I knew what he was doing. He was using my bag as leverage to get me to go where he wanted me to go. I really, really, really didn't want to get raped. But every one of my current belongings was in that bag. What was I supposed to do?

I followed in defeat. I guess if I couldn't complain if I died sooner rather than later. We walked for a short distance before we met up with another group or armor-clad warrior people. There were probably about 10 people standing on the side of the path, all looking like they'd rather be dead than here right now. At least we were in the same boat.

"Who is this?" a woman's voice cut through the quiet mumbling.

I looked around to see who she was talking about. Oh, me. Nobody made a move to say anything or stick up for me. This guy freaking drags me out here and then doesn't bother to explain himself. Awesome.

"I was told there would be cookies," I say, trying to lighten the mood, because these guys looked seriously scared. Also I really wanted a chocolate chip cookie, but that's beside the point. I think all I managed to do was confuse them, because they all furrowed their brows in unison and stared at me. My guess was they either had no idea what a cookie was or they just hated cookies.

"She can fight. And she travelled all the way from Riverwood to warn us about the attack," the big gruff guy that dragged me here said finally, and the woman looked to him, her face torn between anger and thoughtfulness. She opened her mouth to say something, but the guy cut her off. "We need everyone we can get, Irileth." Her eyes flashed to me, then to the guy, then back to me again.

"Fine, follow me," she snapped, then turned on her heel and stomped off. I was shaking, too scared to disobey. The other men and I followed her down the path for a short distance before a foul smell reached my nostrils. It started faint, but grew stronger and stronger as we trudged along the path. I looked around but I couldn't see anything that could produce such a putrid smell. It was like something was burning, but it also smelled…well, old, like grandma's attic or something. We took a sharp curve and I saw it; a lone tower in the middle of the valley, black curls of smoke rolling down its sides. My insides churned. My guess was they didn't have smoke masks or fire extinguishers in Skyrim. The valley was eerily quiet as we made our way to the tower, a cold wind whistling lightly to the north.

And then the earth shook.

Our small platoon stopped dead in its tracks as a…creature rose up from behind a set of snowy mountains. With each flap of its gigantic wings, trees and snow were torn from the ground and discarded to the beast's side.

"ATTACK!" Irileth screamed, and the men around me drew their weapons with a loud battle cry. Gruff guy grabbed my arm and literally dragged me in a dead sprint to the burning tower. I tried to keep up but only managed to stumble over my own two feet and be a general pain in the ass. I was too scared to be useful, and all I wanted to do was curl up and cry. Gruff guy threw me into the bottom of the tower, which was still miraculously unscathed. It was a small room with a spiral staircase leading to the top, but by the looks of the flaming rubble rolling down the stone stairs, I'd say that was a no-go. I sat on the floor and tried to catch my breath, but before I knew it the man was pulling me to my feet and pulling pieces of crude armor.

"These clothes smell like butthole," I complained, watching the men attempt to slay the dragon outside. They looked like ants versus a shoe.

The man laughed as he tied some leather strips together, fastening the chest piece to my body. "Live long enough and you can wash it all you want." When he was done outfitting me in this disgusting armor, he handed me a dented metal helmet and an old, chipped bow with a few arrows.

"Know how to shoot?" he asked me, pulling on his own armor.

"Nope," I said, poking my head out the door. The dragon roared past the doorway in about two seconds. I took a panicked step backwards and fell on my ass. The gruff guy picked me up once more, setting me on my feet and placing the bow in my hands.

"Good luck," he said with a clap on my shoulder. He placed his helmet on his head and with a cry, ran out into the field. I felt like we should have had some heartfelt moment or something. But he was off, streaking across the ground, a sword in his hand. I wished his bravery would rub off on me, because I was freaking out in here.

Outside, the dragon was terrorizing our small battalion. With each fiery breath men and women were slain. Only a few smart enough to find cover remained, shooting arrows as the dragon turned its back to them.

There was a second of creepy silence and I thought maybe the dragon had got bored with us and left. I had a fleeting thought that maybe my armor smelled so terrible that I offended it. That thought was gone as soon as it had come, though. With a deafening roar, the dragon landed on the ground, dirt and rocks and bodies flying in every direction. The warrior's efforts had not been in vain; the dragon was noticeably injured, blood pooling around its feet as the seconds passed. Of course, that didn't change the fact that it was still trying to kill the remaining men.

And it was going to start with me!

I was still inside the tower, but that wasn't going to protect me for long. I scrambled to arm the bow with a crappy arrow as the dragon tried to cram its giant-ass head into the doorway. I aimed my weapon as the dragon lunged forward and unleashed an arrow. I had one fleeting second of excitement as the arrow flew straight to the dragon's face, and a bigger feeling of horror as the arrow hit the dragon, cracked in two, and fell to the ground. The dragon looked at the arrow and pulled back its lips, a growl rumbling in its throat.

That bitch was laughing at me.

No lie, I was offended. I stood up, bow in hand, ready to rip this dragon a new one. But it wasn't interested in me anymore. It swung its head to the right and I caught a glimpse of the gruff dude waving his sword in the air, trying to keep the dragon away from me. It worked too, until the dragon whacked him with its huge face. Gruff guy went flying and when he landed, he didn't get up.

"That's it!" I shouted. I had had enough. I wasn't going to let this dragon hurt any more people without fighting. I threw down my bow and ran outside, tearing a sword off of a body. I could see a soldier behind a log, frantically waving at me to turn back. The dragon whirled back to the tower, ready to finish me off. I had about two seconds to make a move. I screamed and charged toward the beast, and before it could whirl its head I plunged the sward deep within the side of its neck. It screamed in pain, lashing out its long neck in agony. I tore my sword out as the best swung back around, but he was too fast. The hysterical dragon knocked me to the ground and with a roll I crashed against its feet. It stomped around in pain, crushing my ribcage. I cried out in pain, tears coming to my eyes as the dragon's blood mixed with my own. The dragon was bleeding freely now and it came off in waves, showering me with hot, red liquid as I tried to dodge the legs. My vision went blurry with pain, my thoughts scrambled. It was like the world had gone quiet and I couldn't hear anything but a loud ringing in my ears as I looked out across the plains. I saw body after body of dead and wounded soldier and subconsciously my hand tightened on my sword. With one last effort I plunged the sword into the beast above me. The beast seized…

And then fell to the ground, defeated.

I wanted to jump around and scream and victoriously hip thrust in the dragon's face. What I actually did was, like most of my time spent in Skyrim, roll around on the ground, drooling and crying. I hadn't noticed the weather before, but cold wind chilled my wet skin. I must have been pretty out of it because blue and green gusts swirled around me. I think I managed to say "pretty" before the dragon burst into flames as a final act of defiance. My skin singed in the flames, but my core hurt so bad all I could do was lay there and face the inferno. I squeezed my eyes shut and when I opened them again, I was lying in a bed, staring up at faces I didn't recognize. I blinked a few times. Nope, they were still there.

"Am I dead?"

"Not today," I recognized the gruff voice and looked up to see my only friend in Skyrim, alive and well with a big smile on his face.

"You were amazing!" one of the guys shouted, and they all cheered and yelled agreements.

"What happened after I blacked out?" I asked, sitting up. Somehow my ribs were healed and there was only a dull pain when I sat up. Seriously how could these people not have deodorant, yet have magical healing powers? It amazed me. The men's faces were now gaunt as they looked to the gruff man. He wrung his hands nervously.

"Lass, what do you know about dragons?"

"Not a thing," I said, but why would that matter? I had just killed one. How many could there be?

The man cleared his throat and sat on the end of my bed.

"Then you have a lot to learn, because you're dragonborn."


End file.
